The Frankenstein Connection
by Selene Illusinia
Summary: Darcy Stark Series. Clint probably should just stop trying to keep up with Darcy's thought process. And stop asking questions. Really, it would be safer for him if he just didn't ask.


**Don't ask where this one came from. Even I'm not sure.**

* * *

"Hey Darce," called Clint as he walked into her workshop, a cup of coffee in each hand. He'd learned early that, well Darcy didn't mind him in her workshop, it was best to arrive with a gift. At least, it was if he knew she hadn't slept in the past 48 hours.

The brunette genius just kind of grunted from where she was seated in front of her computers, brow furrowed. Her eyes never left whatever information was scrawled across her screen. Apparently, whatever she was working on was either fascinating, on deadline, or extremely delicate and thus probably explosive.

_This can't be good,_ thought Clint. The last time he'd seen Darcy show that much focus towards something, half the backyard had ended up in Queens. It was a great example of why Pepper had restricted Darcy from using military-grade explosives alone until she was 18 or had her first degree, whichever came first (which had been the degree, no surprise).

"What're you working on?" inquired Clint curiously, eyes attempting to make sense of the data splashed across her computer screen. He can't make much sense of any of it though, which worries him even more. When Darcy's working on something particularly questionable, he can rarely understand any of what she has in front of her.

"Trying to answer a question," replied Darcy distractedly, her eyes darting around at rapid speeds as she reads the information. Something catches her eye, halting all of her movement except that of her eyes which seem to scan the same sentence multiple times. Finally leaning back in her chair, she closes the information she was scanning and stretches. "Well, that's a little weird. Wonder if Dad knows."

"You wonder if Tony knows what?" asked Clint, handing the coffee he'd brought for her over while sipping at his own.

She took it with a grateful smile, sipping at the steaming liquid as she opened another data file This one was a little more recognizable and looked like it involved Jane's research. "If Tony realizes that Captain America's his brother."

That nearly made Clint spit coffee all over Darcy's computer, which would probably have resulted in her kicking his ass. "Um, what?"

"Captain America is Dad's brother," explained Darcy. "Well, I mean, he's Dad's brother in the same way Frankenstein's monster was his son, but it still kinda counts."

Blinking, Clint tried to make sense of what Darcy was saying and kept hitting the same brick wall. "Uh, Darce, I think you're gonna need to explain that one for us slow, normal people."

Laughing slightly, she spun around and pulled Clint closer so he was standing knee to knee with her. "Okay, Steve became Captain America after he was injected with the super soldier serum, right?"

"Yeah," agreed Clint, his mind still trying to catch up with Darcy's. He really should just stop trying to keep pace with his girlfriend, but his curiosity was hard to break. That and 'Tasha swore he was a masochist.

"So, the super-soldier serum created Captain America," continued Darcy, eyes watching Clint's face for any signs of confusion. "Clear so far?"

"Yeah," agreed Clint.

Darcy nodded again. "So, Dr. Erskine created the serum that changed Steve, but Grandpa created the device that delivered the serum into Steve's system."

"That's what the reports say," confirmed Clint, her thought process slowly clarifying.

"So if the delivery system combined with the serum made Captain America, than by extension Howard Stark created Captain America with Dr. Erskine," explained Darcy. "There for, Captain America is Howard Stark's son through his creation, making him Tony's half-brother. So, by that logic, Captain America is my uncle."

The logic still felt fuzzy, but Clint could definitely see where the idea came from. In the Stark household, he'd learned quickly that anything with sentience created by a Stark pretty much qualified as their child. This included Josie and Jarvis. So why not include Steve in that mix as well? Shaking his head, he offered Darcy a smile. "Have I told you this week that your brain scares me?"

"On Monday morning when you found me taking apart a junked coffee machine to see if I could build a robot that would follow me around all day making coffee," reminded Darcy. "And on Wednesday when I showed you my plans to upgrade Spiderman's tracking devices so they could be remote detonated to stain the bad guy's skin pink. "And on Thursday morning when Tony and I were arguing over the best way to build a replica of the Destroyer from New Mexico."

Clint just shook his head and hugged her close. "Well, I'm telling you again." Releasing her, he took a step back so she could turn back to the computer screen. "So are you going to tell Tony about your little revelation?"

"I already e-mailed him," replied Darcy with a shrug. "He'll probably find it funny. Or scary. Or he'll deny it because he still thinks Steve is too much of a baby about all things sex-related."

"And that's enough to make him want to deny it?" asked Clint curiously. He'd think Tony would use this to torture Steve.

Again, Darcy shrugged. "Honestly, he'll probably shrug it off, then go taunt Steve about it to see what happens."

"That sounds like Tony," agreed Clint with a sigh.

"Mhm," hummed Darcy. "Which is why I get to finish building Jane's power thingy. Which reminds me, you might want to stay out of my lab for the next three to five days. Or only come in with a radiation suit on."

"Why?" asked Clint wearily. "Actually, do I want to know?"

"Because I have to work with some really radioactive stuff to build Jane's power supply," explained Darcy with a shrug. "Which means my lab is gonna be locked down as a radioactive zone." A grin spread across her face. "And maybe this time, I won't glow in the dark for a week when I'm done."


End file.
